Accusers named in sex abuse suit against former ESU administrator

The six plaintiffs who filed suit against a former East Stroudsburg University official for allegedly sexually abusing them have not backed down — despite a judge's ruling that forced them to disclose their identities in their lawsuit.

The six plaintiffs who filed suit against a former East Stroudsburg University official for allegedly sexually abusing them have not backed down — despite a judge's ruling that forced them to disclose their identities in their lawsuit.

The six plaintiffs — one current ESU student and five who are now alumni — revealed their names in an amended civil complaint filed in U.S. District Court's Middle District of Pennsylvania on Tuesday. Earlier versions of the lawsuit were filed anonymously.

The Pocono Record, as a policy, does not name alleged victims of sexual crimes.

The plaintiffs' suit alleges that Isaac Sanders — the former vice president for advancement at ESU, executive director of the ESU Foundation, and highest ranking black official on campus — targeted them as vulnerable black male students and installed himself as their mentor. They say he dangled gifts, jobs and money in exchange for attempts at sexual intimacy. The alleged acts range from inappropriate comments and touching, to groping them in his car and forcing one student to perform oral sex on him.

The suit also names ESU and other top officials as defendants, alleging that they covered up for Sanders and interfered with internal investigations into his conduct.

Sanders, through his attorney, Harry T. Coleman, filed a motion last month asking the court to force the students to reveal their identities. Sanders already knew who his accusers were, according to court documents.

The plaintiffs' attorneys objected to the motion, arguing that it was meant to intimidate the current and former students from pressing their claim and, if granted, would discourage victims of sexual violence from coming forward.

Judge James Munley last week ordered the plaintiffs to reveal their names publicly. He argued that making court proceedings transparent is crucial to reaching fair results.

Victims' rights advocates blasted the decision, saying it amounted to witness intimidation, played into the hands of perpetrators, and deviated from recent precedent in other courts in the state.

ESU and the current officials, who are being represented by the attorney general's office, declined to either concur or dissent from Sanders' motion to name the plaintiffs.